This invention relates to valves, and to an improved wear resistant valve.
The life of a valve is largely determined by the wear of the valve seat and of the sealing face of the poppet which must press against the valve seat to close the valve. In certain systems where very high pressures and abrasive material are encountered, the life of the valves may be a prime factor in determining the feasibility of the system. For example, in drilling hydrocarbon wells and the like, it has been found that the drill rate can be greatly increased by increasing the pressure of the mud-water drilling fluid from a typical pressure such as 3,000 psi to a very high pressure such as 15,000 psi. However, it was found that the pumping equipment has a much shorter lifetime at such high pressures, particularly for the pump and its valves. My earlier patent application Ser. No. 774,229 filed Mar. 4, 1977, describes a reciprocating mud pump for producing high pressures, which pumps a large volume with each stroke to minimize the number of times the valves must open and close, to thereby increase the valve life. My co-pending patent application entitled Fast Acting Check Valve describes the use of a solenoid to rapidly close a check valve so as to reduce the time during which rapid regurgitant flow occurs past the valve seat. Any additional steps which could increase the life of the valves would make the utilization of high drilling fluid pressures more economical.